Hey.... Lets keep Chickens..!

ionahenor2

What about tuna Steel. I fed my poorly Blackrock spring water tinned Tuna when she was ill as she wouldn't eat much. They all had the skin from tinned salmon the other day......loved it.

Steel_2

That's a good idea. I've got some in the cupboard.

I've read elsewhere that beef cat food can also be fed to help build chickies up.

I've tried her on that special mix of oats, apple and honey etc before but she doesn't like the texture.

I'm reading up on strapping her at the moment. She desperately wants to lay an egg but every time she tries she prolapses so I think I'm going to have to give her physical support with bandages.

3v3

ionahenor2 wrote: »

What about tuna Steel. I fed my poorly Blackrock spring water tinned Tuna when she was ill as she wouldn't eat much. They all had the skin from tinned salmon the other day......loved it.

I thought feeding them fish products would give their eggs a fishy hue?

Mojisola

3v3 wrote: »

I thought feeding them fish products would give their eggs a fishy hue?

Only if they're fed an awful lot of it. When fish meal was first used in chicken food, the eggs did sometimes smell fishy.

ljonski

I really don't think feeding her straight tuna is a good idea; This will only encourage egg laying and what you need to do is break the egg cycle. Feeding her a relatively sparse diet will mean that her energy is devoted to staying alive and not laying eggs.! Wheetabix is good and could be mashed slightly with water. . I did give Chucky the residue from Mr Hop's cat pouches in a bid to vary her diet. Also, this is a long haul and my "nightmare lasted for 3 weeks ,with approx 50 prolapses in all ! I would let her lay and if the flesh is still healthyand clean re insert. Laying while prolapsed didn't seem to phase her.

rachbc

stell I was told sardines to help build them up - mine loved it! Didn;t worry about the eggs as we are having ti disguard them atm anyway

Steel_2

Well, I've decided I'm keeping her in a dark shed to break the egg laying cycle, but I cannot stop her protein intake or keep her on a sparse diet. She is so thin her breastbone is sticking out prominently and she has no flesh on her breast at all. If I put her on a sparse diet I'm worried it will be too much for her little body to handle and I'll lose her. She's been through so much with the red mites. I've decided not to feed her tuna, as hubby asked me if the salty brine would dehydrate her. I've no idea if it will, but with her low body weight it's one more stress she doesn't need so I'm not going to.

I'll feed her a mixture of beef cat food, oats, apple, grain, honey and some poultry tonic along with her usual spinach, tomatoes, strawberries, raspberries, cabbage, peas etc and strings of maize. Thank god for kitchen gardens is all I can say!

I went out for the evening tonight to a party and did nothing but think about the poor little thing. I stopped off at Mr T's on the way there and bought some cohesive bandage and dressings. when I came back I sat in the shed with her while she was sleepy, cleaned her, added more preparation H, popped her bits back in, put a dressing to the underside of her vent and strapped it firmly against her for the night.

She can still poo if she wants as the main opening is clear, but I'll take it off first thing and see how she's doing then. Every evening from now on I'll strap her up for the night.

I'll go back out there in half an hour and check her, as she was very off balance and I had to put her to bed and pile a ton of straw around her to keep her upright. with any luck, she'll have dropped off to sleep. I took her water out just in case, so she wouldn't fall head first into it and drown if she thrashed around.

While I was holding her, four fat blood filled red mites crawled on to my hands.

Bleurch...there is no escape from their evil clutches.

MaggieBaking

I don't have chickens but would like them one day so I do enjoy reading this thread. I'm so sad to read of your poorly chick steel - I hope she is ok and keeps her strength up

Kimitatsu

rachbc wrote: »

So happy- however when I went to shut them up there was a soft egg at the bottom of the ramp. Had the usual 2 eggs this am from the 2 well hens so do you think its the black rock just starting to lay again now she is recovering or could it be a problem with one of the others now?? I'm perplexed because every other egg has been totally fine, laid in the morning and in the nest box

Rach - quite common for hens coming back into lay after a break. You often find this happens with pol pullets who are laying for the first time, it should correct itself within a couple of days so just keep an eye on it, and ensure they have grit or calcium to form the shell with.

Steel_2

Well the bandaging didn't work because I think I did it wrong. I don't think I'm supposed to leave her vent opening uncovered in any way. I think I have to bandage the whole area last thing and take it off first thing so she can poo and/or lay an egg. I'll try and again tonight. I emailed Jo at the Little Hen Rescue Centre yesterday to find out how you tackle the vent area so hopefully I'll hear back from her today.

Hubby has persuaded me to go to a car boot sale this morning and he'll take Prolapse Watch, so I'm going to go and get ready and check her again (and pop it in again) before I go.